The Portiuncula, located in the Diocese of Steubenville, is home to the Franciscan Lay Apostolate. We are humbly committed to imitating the Gospel life of Christ, and observing the Sacraments. Placing ourselves under strict and holy obedience to Bishop Jeffrey Monforton of Steubenville, and the Magisterium, we follow the Medieval Penitential First Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, dated 1221 A.D. Our mission is to preach Repentance and Penance to all God's people.

About Me

Servant General of the F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolate); Hermitage Scullion; Former Radio Talk Show Host; Writer; Public Speaker; Former Staff Member of United States Senator Dan Coats; Retired Infantry Major: served with U.S. Army Intelligence in Vietnam and Europe; Wife: Karen (married 42 years), 5 children, 8 grandchildren ...
To request your special intentions to be offered up before our Eucharistic Lord in intercessory prayer, please e-mail your Prayer Intentions to the Portiuncula Hermitage at: hermitage@parallax.ws

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Those who have cared for nothing except to know and point out the way of salvation to others, and have made no effort to follow it themselves, will stand naked and empty-handed before the judgement-seat of Christ, bearing only the sheaves of confusion, shame and grief.

Many people blame the devil or their neighbor when they fall into sin or are offended. But that is not right. Everyone has his own enemy in his power and this enemy is his lower nature which leads him into sin. Blessed the religious who keeps this enemy a prisoner under his control and protects himself against it. As long as he does this no other enemy, visible or invisible, can harm him.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Sister Briege: I talk about personal holiness. The crisis in the priesthood is not celibacy; it is faith in Jesus Christ. People who have a relationship with Jesus Christ can't live with sin in their lives. So I pray that they have a living faith in Jesus Christ with the Eucharist in the centre of their lives. The tragedy in Ireland is that there is so much negativity and they get so discouraged.

The greatest need is to be a personal witness to Jesus Christ. If their message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it will bear fruit. The people are hungry. If you look at any list of retreats, sometimes the person of Jesus isn't even mentioned, but there is nothing like spending time with the Eucharist. It is so easy to be attracted by good things, but leave out the most important thing, which is our prayer life.

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

The Monk Master Roaster

Br. Java is the master roaster who meticoulosly roasts beans in small batches. His philosophy is that each roast must be not only the labor of his hands, but a master roast of the highest quality. Br. Java is passionate about obtaining the perfect roasts for you. He carefully roasts only the finest gourmet beans under conditions that will make each roast consistent and smooth with a taste that will make your taste buds tingle. With experience and perfection, Mystic Monk Coffee is a coffee to savor and enjoy – with or without cream.

The Legend of the First Mystic Monk

Coffee is a product perfected and loved by monks from its beginning. When a monk of old heard the anguished tale of a shepherd who had sleepless goats, he himself discovered growing on shrubs the berries, which had such a wonderful affect. Delighted at his find, the ingenious monk boiled the beans in water and drank the resulting coffee. He found in his discovery a hot drink that could keep his eyes awake even amidst the midnight vigils and unceasing prayers of the monastic life.

The secret of coffee continues to keep monks ever alert and vigilant for their prayers, but now Mystic Monk Coffee shares the hidden, master roasts of monks with all who seek a delightful cup of coffee.

Monks are passionate Perfectionists

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

Please remember that when you buy Mystic Monk Coffee through the Portiuncula Hermitage, ten percent of all their commission sales is donated to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion.)

Please remember to keep our pre-born in your daily prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the Left Side of this page:

The blessed and venerable Francis wanted only to be taken up with God and to purify his spirit of the dust of the world which eventually clings to us in our daily association with others. So he periodically withdrew to a place of solitude and silence...He would take with him a very few companions from among those more intimately associated with his inner life, so that they might keep people from visiting or disturbing him, and might lovingly and faithfully keep guard over his quiet.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Exclusive Interview: Leading Vatican Prelate Says Document of US Bishops Partly to Blame for Election of “Most Pro-Abortion President”

Also says Bishops’ Catholic News Service needs to be given "some new direction"

By Hilary White, Rome Correspondent

ROME, January 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A document of the US Catholic Bishops is partly to blame for the abandonment of pro-life teachings by voting Catholics and the election of the “most pro-abortion president” in US history, one of the Vatican’s highest officials said in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com.

Archbishop Raymond Burke, the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, named a document on the election produced by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops that he said “led to confusion” among the faithful and led ultimately to massive support among Catholics for Barack Obama.

The US bishops’ document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” stated that, under certain circumstances, a Catholic could in good conscience vote for a candidate who supports abortion because of "other grave reasons," as long as they do not intend to support that pro-abortion position.

Archbishop Burke, the former Archbishop of St. Louis Mo. and recently appointed head of the highest ecclesiastical court in the Catholic Church, told LifeSiteNews.com that although “there were a greater number of bishops who spoke up very clearly and firmly ... there was also a number who did not.”

But most damaging, he said, was the document “Faithful Citizenship” that “led to confusion” among the voting Catholic population.

“While it stated that the issue of life was the first and most important issue, it went on in some specific areas to say ‘but there are other issues’ that are of comparable importance without making necessary distinctions.” Archbishop Burke, citing an article by a priest and ethics expert of St. Louis archdiocese, Msgr. Kevin McMahon, who analysed how the bishops’ document actually contributed to the election of Obama, called its proposal “a kind of false thinking, that says, ‘there’s the evil of taking an innocent and defenceless human life but there are other evils and they’re worthy of equal consideration.’

“But they’re not. The economic situation, or opposition to the war in Iraq, or whatever it may be, those things don’t rise to the same level as something that is always and everywhere evil, namely the killing of innocent and defenceless human life.”

Archbishop Burke also cited the work of the official news service of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference, that many pro-life observers complained soft-pedalled the newly elected president’s opposition to traditional morality.

“The bishops need to look also at our Catholic News Service, CNS, they need to review their coverage of the whole thing and give some new direction, in my judgement,” he said.

The first friars, and those who followed them for a long while, afflicted their bodies beyond measure by abstinence from food and drink, by vigils, by cold, by coarse clothing, and by manual labour. They wore iron bands and breast-plates, and the roughest of hair shirts. So the holy father, considering that the friars might fall ill as a result of this - as had already happened in a short time - gave orders in Chapter that no friar should wear anything but the habit next to his skin.

St. Francis was a genuine preacher confirmed by apostolic authority; therefore he spoke no honeyed words of flattery or blandishment; what he preached to others he had already put into practice himself and his teaching of the truth was full of assurance.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Once the faithful servant of Christ, St. Francis, held a General Chapter on the plain of St. Mary of the Angels, where more than five thousand friars gathered together.

And in that camp each group had made tents covered on top and round about with rushes and mats; accordingly this Chapter was called the Chapter of Mats. They slept on the bare ground or on some straw, and their pillows were stones or pieces of wood.

As a result, everyone who saw or heard them had such devotion for them, and the fame of their holiness was so great, that many people came to see them from the Pope's Court, which was then nearby Perugia, and from other parts of the Valley of Spoleto. Many counts and barons and knights and other noblemen and many plain people, and cardinals and bishops and abbots with other members of the clergy, flocked to see this very holy and large and humble gathering of so saintly men, such as the world had never seen.

When he was alone and at peace, Francis would make the groves re-echo with his sighs and bedew the ground with his tears, as he beat his breast and conversed intimately with his Lord in hidden secrecy. Here he defended himself before his Judge; here he spoke with his Lover. Here, too, the friars were watching occassionally heard him cry aloud, imploring God's mercy for sinners, and weeping for the passion of Christ, as if he saw it before his eyes.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Saint Francis told the friars to build their houses small and their cells of wood, not of stone, and he wanted them built in a humble style. He abhorred pretentious buildings, and disliked superfluous or elaborate appointments. He wished nothing about their tables or appointments to appear worldly or to remind them of the world, so that everything should proclaim their poverty and remind them that they were pilgrims and exiles.

St. Francis, seeing the charity of the brothers and Brother Masseo's humility, gave them a wonderful sermon on holy humility, teaching them that the greater gifts and graces which God gives us, the greater is our obligation to be more humble, because without humility no virtue is acceptable to God.

The brothers can conduct themselves among unbelievers spiritually in two ways. One way is to avoid quarrels or disputes and be subject to every human creature for God's sake (1 Peter 2:13), so bearing witness in the fact that they are Christians. Another way is to proclaim the word of God openly, when they see that is God's will, calling on their hearers to believe in God almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, and in the Son, the Redeemer and Savior, that they may be baptized and become Christians, bucause unlesws a man be born again of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

Do you think that evangelical poverty has nothing about it to be envied? It has Christ and through him it has all things in all. Why do you pant over revenues, modern cleric? Tomorrow you will know that Francis was rich, when you will find in your hand the revenues of torments.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

When the friars have received the blessing of the Bishop, let them go and mark out the boundaries of the land which they have accepted for their house, and as a sign of holy poverty and humility, let them plant a hedge instead of building a wall. Afterwards, let them erect simple little huts of clay and wood, and a number of cells where the friars can pray or work from time to time in order to increase their merit and avoid idleness. Their churches are to be small; they are not to build great churches in order to preach to the people, or for any other reason, for they show greater humility and a better example when they visit other churches to preach. And should prelates or clergy, whether Religious or secular, visit their houses, their humble dwellings, cells, and tiny churches will speak for themselves, and these things will edify them more than any words.

Wherever we are, wherever we go, we bring our cell with us. Our brother body is our cell and our soul is the hermit living in that cell in order to pray to God and meditate. If our soul does not live in peace and solitude within this cell, of what avail is it to live in a man-made cell?

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Please remember to keep the pre-born in your prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the left side of this page:

There was a certain strong soldier who had won many victories and later became a Friar Minor. And when soldiers laughed at him because he had joined such an Order rather than the Templars or a similar Order where he could do much good and still fight battles, he replied: "I tell you that when I feel thirst, hunger, cold, and such things, the impulse of pride and concupiscence and such stll attacks me. How much worse would it be if I saw my feet shod in armor and I was on a hadsome horse and so on!"

And he added: "So far I was strong in fighting others-from now on I want to be strong in fighting myself!"

While Francis was passing through Balogna, he heard that a house had recently been built there for the friars. Directly he learned that it was known as 'the house of the friars,' he turned on his heel and left the city, giving strict orders that all the friars were to leave it at once and live in it no longer.

So they all abandoned it, even the sick were not allowed to remain, but were turned out with the rest, until the Lord Ugolino, Bishop of Ostia and Legate in Lombardy, publicly proclaimed that the house belonged to him.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Because of the boundless zeal that he had at all times for the perfection of the Order, St. Francis was naturally distressed whenever he heard or saw any imperfection in it. And beginning to realize that some of the friars were setting a bad example in the Order, and had begun to decline from the highest ideals of their profession, his heart was moved to the deepest grief...

None of the friars assembled at the chapter ever dared to recount any worldly events: they spoke together of the lives of the holy fathers of old, and how they might best live in God's grace. If by chance anyone among those present was troubled or tempted, the very sight of blessed Francis and his fervent and gentle exhortations were sufficient to drive away all temptation and trouble.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Many simple words fell from St. Francis's lips and he spoke from the fervor of his heart for he had been chosen by God to be simple and unlearned, using none of the erudite words of human wisdon; and in all things he bore himself with simplicity.

For often, when Francis was honored by all, he suffered the deepest sorrow; and rejecting the favor of men, he would see to it that he would be rebuked by some one. He would call some brother to him, saying to him: "In obedience, I say to you, revile me harshly and speak the truth against the lies of others."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

St. Francis never failed to keep himself occupied doing good; like the angels Jacob saw on the ladder (Genesis 28, 12) he was always busy, either raising his heart to God in prayer, or descending to his neighbor. He had learned how to distribute the time in which he could gain merit wisely, devoting part of it to his neighbor by doing good, and part in restful ecstacy of contemplation.

No friar may preach contrary to Church law or without the permission of his minister. The minister, for his part, must be careful not to grant permission indiscriminately. Allthe friars, however, should preach by their example.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Remember your dignity, then, my friar priests. You shall make and keep yourselves holy, because God is holy (Leviticus 11:44). In this mystery God has honoured you above all other human beings, and so you must love, revere, and honour him more than all others. Surely this is a great pity, a pitiable weakness, to have him present with you like this and be distracted by anything else in the whole world. Our whole being should be seized with fear, the whole world should tremble and heaven rejoice, when Christ the Son of the living God is present on the altar in the hands of the priest. O wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!

Listen to this, my brothers: If it is right to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary because she bore him in her most holy womb; if St. John the Baptist trembled and was afraid to touch Christ's sacred head; if the tomb where he lay for only a short time is so venerated; how holy, and virtuous, and worthy should not a priest be; he touches Christ with his own hands, Christ who is to die now no more but enjoy eternal life and glory, upon whom the angels desire to look (1 Peter 1:12). A priest receives him into his heart and mouth and offers him to others to be received.

"Let them live as it suits them, for the damnation of a few is a lesser loss then the damnation of many!" Francis did not say this because of all the ministers, but because of some who seemed to claim their prelacy by a hereditary right since they had held office for so long a time.

STEUBENVILLE, OH — On the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case legalizing abortion, all are encouraged to attend a Holy Hour for Life at Franciscan University of Steubenville on January 21, 2009. The holy hour is from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. in Christ the King Chapel and is sponsored by Students for Life. The holy hour commences the overnight departure of 350 students on 7 buses for the March for Life in Washington, D.C. An estimated 400 additional students, alumni, and friends of the University are expected to join them on January 22, under the Franciscan University banner. Every year this Franciscan contingent is one of the largest at the March for Life.

Before the march, students will participate in Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

“Franciscan University is very pro-life and since the mission of the school is education, our main focus on campus is educating students about the pro-life movement and how they can be pro-life,” says Students for Life Vice President Emily Espinola. “Yet we’re not just about staying here, but carrying the prolife movement outside of campus, where our role is evangelization.”

The group’s ongoing activities include prayer ministry outside abortion clinics four days a week, training sidewalk counselors, hosting prominent speakers and educational talks on campus, and connecting with students from other universities and colleges to train them as pro-life leaders in their communities. Once a year, the Students for Life Coffeehouse raises over $1,000 to donate to AIM Women’s Center, a Steubenville pregnancy help center.

We [the brothers] are bound to fast and avoid vice and sin, taking care not to give way to excess in food and drink, and we must be Catholics. We should visit churches often and show great reverence for the clergy, not just for them personally, for they may be sinnersw, but because of their high office, for it is they who administer the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not right for the heirs of the kingdom to be ashamed of their heavenly inheritance. I say to you, there will be many noble and wise men who will join our order and who will consider it an honor to beg for alms.

Friday, January 16, 2009

The Richmond Catholic Community is now offering Mystic Monk Coffee Through The Portiuncula at St. Teresa's Treasures (Holy Family Parish.)

Please remember that when you buy Mystic Monk Coffee through the Portiuncula Hermitage, ten percent of all their commission sales is donated to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion.)

FAIR TRADE / ORGANIC

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing all Mystic Monk Coffee Sales to Birthright!

Please remember to keep our pre-born in your daily prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the Left Side of this page:

All the friars, both the ministers, who are servants, and their subjects, should be careful not to be upset or angry when anyone falls into sin or gives bad example; the devil would be only too glad to ensnare many others through one man's sin.

With their eyes directed toward the ground, they clung to heaven with their minds. No envy, no malice, no rancor, no abusive wspeech, no suspicion, no bitterness found any place in them; but great concord, continual quiet, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise were in them.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Blessed the religious who treasures up for heaven (Matthew 6:20) the favours God has given him and does not want to show them off for what he can get out of them. God hmself will reveal his works to whomsoever he pleases. Blessed the religious who keeps God's marvellous doings to himself.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Alms are an inheritance and a right which is due to the poor because our Lord Jesus Christ acquired this inheritance for us. The friars who are busy begging alms will receive a great reward themselves, besides enriching those who give them.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Please remember to keep the pre-born in your prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the Left Side of this Page:

"When the mind is ready to be introduced into that most glorious light of God's goodness, it should not add anything by presumption or take away anything by negligence, and it should love solitude as much as possible if it wishes that grace be preserved and increase.

St. Francis said, "We have been sent to help the clergy in the salvation of souls, so that we may supply whatever is lacking in them. But men will not be rewarded according to their office, but their work. Remember, my brothers, that the winning of souls is what pleases God most, and we can do this better by working in harmony with the clergy than in opposition..."

Monday, January 12, 2009

Francis burned with a love that came from his whole being for the sacrament of the Lord's body, and he was carried away with wonder at the loving condescension and the most condescending love shown there...He wanted great reverence shown to the hands of priests, for to these had been given authority from God over the consecrated bread and wine.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Francis was sad if learning was sought to the neglect of virtue, especially if each did not remain in the calling in which he was called from the beginning. "My brothers," he said, "who are being led by curious craving after learning will find their hand empty on the day of retribution....For retribution will come, such that books, useful for nothing, will be thrown out of windows and into cubby-holes." He did not say this because Scripture studies displeased him, but in order that he might withdraw all the brothers from a vain desire for learning and because he wanted them to be good in charity rather than superficially learned through curiosity.

They then began to long miserably for the fleshpots of Egypt, which they had left behind; and what they had once despised with a generous heart they now shamefully wanted...They began at last to fawn upon the men of the world; and they began to be wedded to them, as it were, that they might empty their purses, extend their own buildings, and multiply the very things they had completely renounced. They sold their words of advice to the rich and their visits to noble ladies; and they frequented the courts of kings and princes with great eagerness, so that they might join house to house and field to field.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Francis had first convinced himslef of the truth of what he preached to others by practicing it in his own life and so he proclaimed the truth confidently, without fear of reproof. He denounced evil wherever he found it, and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke.

If people insult you and refuse to give you alms, you should thank God for it, because you will be honored before the judgement seat of our Lord Jesus Christ for these insults. The shame will be imputed to those who cause it, not to those who suffer it. Alms are an inheritance and a right which is due to the poor because our Lord Jesus Christ acquired this inheritance for us.

On a certain day the Gospel was read in the church, how the Lord sent his disciples out to preach...Francis immediately put off his shoes from his feet, put aside the staff from his hands, was content with one tunic, and exchanged his leather girdle for a small cord. He designed for himself a tunic that bore a likeness to the cross, that by means of it he might beat off all temptation of the devil; he designed a very rough tunic so that by it he might crucify the flesh with all its vices and sins; he designed a very poor tunic, one that would not excite the covetousness of the world.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

All are to refrain from formal oaths unless where necessity compels, in the cases excepted by the Sovereign Pontiff in his indult, that is, for peace, for the Faith, under calumny, and in bearing witness.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

The brothers are to speak evil of none (Titus 3:2); there must be no complaining, no slander; it is written, "Whisperers and detractors are people hateful to God" (Romans 1:29). And let them be moderate, showing all mildness to all men (Titus 3:2), without word of criticism or condemnation; as the Lord says, they must give no thought even to the slightest faults of others (Matthew 7:3; Luke 6:41), but rather count over their own in the bitterness of their soul (Isiah 38:15).

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Thirty-five years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion on demand, people from across America plan to gather in the nation's capital on Monday, January 23rd to show their opposition to the ruling. The annual March for Life is expected to draw tens of thousands of people of all ages, faiths, and nationalities.

Given the enormity of the situation, I couldn't help but imagine waking up in the morning to the newspapers headlines, "Nine American cities completely wiped out! No one left alive in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philladelphia, Detroit, St. Louis or Atlanta."

We saw America's reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath. It's hard to imagine how angry American's would be if these headlines were true. Men, women and children would be lining up to join the armed forces to strike back at the enemy. What enemy is that? Is it China, Afghanistan, or Iraq? What massive firepower must the enemy have employed to inflict such destruction, atomic bombs, biological warfare or perhaps nerve agents? It was none of these. It was abortion.

As of 1996, Americans had slaughtered 32 million innocents, the equivalent of nine major U.S. cities.

Mother Teresa said that If we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people that killing is wrong? After all, any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people love, but to use whatever violence necessary to get what they want.

Sure, everyone's concerned for the children of Indiana and Africa, where thousands of children are dying of hunger and disease every day. Many people are concerned with the violence in our streets and classrooms as well. These concerns are good, but all too often these same people aren't the least bit concerned by those being killed by the deliberate decisions of their own mothers. This is the greatest destroyer of peace today - abortion - which brings people to such blindness.

Does abortion destroy peace and cause blindness toward the sick, the hungry and the naked? Of course it does, when life is regarded so lightly and its disposal becomes so trivial, so clinical, so easy. After all, why should people or nations regard human life as noble or dignified if abortion flourishes? Why agonize over indiscriminate deaths in Bosnia when babies are being killed far more efficiently and out of sight of TV cameras?

Just imagine, the populations of all those major cities combined - all dead....who is left to cry?

In the name of God I entreat the friars to grasp the meaning of all that is written in this Rule for the salvation of our souls, and recall it to mind again and again. I beg almighty God, Three and One, to bless those who teach, learn, or have by them this Rule, keeping it fresh in their memory and putting it into practice, as they repeat and perform what is written in it for our salvation.

When blessed Francis was at the Chapter General held at St. Mary of the Portiuncula - known as the Chapter of Mats, because the only shelters there consisted of rush-mats, which were used by five thousand friars - a number of prudent and learned friars went to the lord Cardinal of Ostia who was present, and said to him, 'My Lord, we wish that you would persuade Brother Francis to follow the advice of the wiser brethren, and allow himself to be guided by them.' And they quoted the Rules of Saint Benedict, Saint Augustine, and Saint Bernard, which lay down the principles of the regular life.

Saint Francis spoke to the friars in the fervor and power of the Holy Spirit, saying, 'My brothers! my brothers! God has called me by the way of simplicity and humility, and has in truth revealed this way for me and for all who are willing to trust and follow me. So I do not want you to quote any other rule to me...

Monday, January 05, 2009

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.

What is the Carmelite Monks' goals in roasting Mystic Monk Coffee? They hope that this new monastic industry will help them to establish their Catholic monastery in the mountains of Wyoming. Catholics everywhere love coffee and why not buy their coffee from Catholic monks who are laboring to take vocations?

Every Catholic monastery has its own manual labor, a way to support itself by its own hands. Then it usually sells what it makes as its monastery gift item. Coffee is unique in that Catholics everywhere drink coffee daily. So this is a monastery gift for every day of the year. Catholics should find this as another way to integrate the church into their daily lives, through Catholic coffee. Every morning as they sip their coffee, why not think of the church and say a morning offering to Christ?

Mystic Monk Coffee is pleased to offer the socially conscious consumer a coffee that respects the value of every human life and the right and dignity of every person, especially the unborn. Fair Trade Organic is a decision to act with social justice.

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

The Portiuncula Hermitage is committed to tithing ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales Commissions to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!

Please remember to keep the pre-born in your prayers!

To order direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Coffee Icon on the left side of this page:

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Father Richard Neuhaus, founder and editor in chief of the journal First Things, has been hospitalized with "a serious cancer," the publication announced Dec. 31. A message sent to e-mail contacts and posted on the magazine's Web site said Father Neuhaus is in a New York hospital after being diagnosed with cancer in late November. "The long-term prognosis for this particular cancer is not good, but it is not hopeless, either, and there is a possibility that it will respond to the recommended outpatient chemotherapy treatment," said the message. But over Christmas, Father Neuhaus became dangerously ill with a systemic infection and was hospitalized, the note added. There had been some signs of improvement in the last few days, the message said, "and there is a reasonable expectation that he will recover from this present illness -- sufficiently, we hope, that he will be able to begin the chemotherapy for the cancer."

With all my heart, I beg the friars in our Lord Jesus Christ to be on their guard against pride, boasting, envy, and greed, against the cares and anxieties of this world, against detraction and complaining.

Blessed is that servant of God who has confidence in priests who live in accordance to the laws of the holy Roman Church. Woe to those who despise them. Even if they fall into sin, no one should pass judgement on them, for God has reserved judgement on them to himself.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

The friars who have a trade should work at it, provided that it is no obstacle to their spiritual progress and can be practised without scandal. The Psalmist tell sus, 'You shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; happy shall you be, and favoured' (Psalm 127:2); and St. Paul adds, 'If any man will not work, neither let him eat' (2 Thess. 3:10).

St. Francis arrived that evening at the friars' Place of Monte Casale, where there was a friar who was so cruelly sick and so horribly tortured by illness that it seemed more like a tribulation and torment of the devil than a natural sickness...When St. Francis, sitting at table, heard the friars tell about the serious and incurable sickness of this friar, St. Francis felt compassion for him. And he took a piece of bread which he was eating and made the Sign of the Cross over it with his holy stigmatized hands and sent it to the sick friar. As soon as the latter had eaten the bread, he was perfectly healed and never felt illness again.

Saint Francis of AssisiLittle Flowers of St. FrancisThe Second Consideration

Saturday, January 03, 2009

'Return you children who have departed from me, and I will heal rebellions. Beware of all covetousness, for that is idolatry; a covetous man shall not be satisfied with money. But call to mind the days gone by, in which, after you have been enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings. Be not those who draw back unto destruction, but those who have faith to the saving of the soul. A man making void the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses; how much worse the punishments do you think he deserves who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant through which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Return, ye transgressors, to the heart, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'

Our most holy Father, knowing that the body was created to serve the soul, and that bodily actions were to be performed for spiritual endes, used to say, 'In eating, sleeping, and satisfying the other needs of the body, the servant of God should make sensible provision for his Brother Body so that he may not have cause to complain and say, "I canot stand upright and continue at prayer, nor can I be cheerful in my troubles or do other good things, because you do not provide for my needs."'

Friday, January 02, 2009

Such great signs of sanctity were evident in St. Francis that no one dared to oppose his words, while the great assembly of people looked only upon him. In the midst of all these things and above everything else, Francis thought that the faith of the holy Roman Church was by all means to be preserved, honored, and imitated, that faith in which alone is found in salvation of all who are to be saved. He revered priests and he had a great affection for every ecclesiastical order.

Our whole being should be seized with fear, the whole world should tremble and heaven rejoice, when Christ the Son of the Living God is present on the altar in the hands of the priest! What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble himself like this under the form of a little vread, for our salvation!

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow love;Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;And where there is sadness, joy;O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

St. Francis embraced the Mother of our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and his friars.